Chapter Thirty-Seven

The conclusion of Elihu’s speech. 1–13. Description of a thunderstorm and other physical phenomena. 14–24. Conclusion.

Job 37:1-5. A continuation of the description of thunder and lightning. On the basis of verses 2 and the following verses, it is conjectured that Elihu is describing a thunderstorm that broke out at the very time when he was concluding his speech.

Job 37:1. And at this my heart trembles and is moved out of its place. A thunderstorm with its accompanying thunder and lightning – harbingers of the coming manifestation of God (Exod 19:9), and it awakens in Elihu, as in other people of the Old Testament, a sense of fear (Isa 6:5; Ezek 2:1; Dan 10:7-8).

Job 37:2. Hear attentively the noise of His voice, and the sound that goes out of His mouth. The voice of God, according to the view of ancient Eastern peoples, is thunder (Ps 28), and Elihu invites his interlocutors to listen attentively to it.

Job 37:3. He sends it forth under the whole heaven, and His lightning to the ends of the earth. The sounds of thunder fill all the space of the air, and the flash of lightning reaches the limits of the earth.

Job 37:4. After it a voice roars; He thunders with the voice of His majesty, and He does not restrain it when His voice is heard. Thunder follows lightning, and “it (the flash) does not cease when His voice is heard,” that is, lightning again follows the thunder, and so on. The rumbles of thunder and the appearance of lightning alternate continually.

Job 37:5. God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things, which we cannot comprehend. A concluding remark about the thunderstorm, which points to its astonishing character (“marvelously,” cf. Ps 64:6; Dan 8:24), God’s greatness (cf. Ps 28), and which serves as a transition to the description of other equally wondrous phenomena.

Job 37:6. For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; likewise to the heavy rain and to the rain of His strength. Job 37:7. He seals the hand of every man, that all men may know His work. Job 37:8. Then the beasts go into dens and remain in their lairs. To these belong the falling of snow and abundant rain in a harsh season – between autumn and spring, with corresponding consequences for people and animals: the cessation of the activity of farmers and nomads (it is in this sense that the Hebrew verb “chatam” – “to seal” is used in Job 9:7; Rev 20:2-3) and the withdrawal of beasts shrinking from the cold into their lairs (Ps 103:20-22).

Job 37:9. From the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the north. Winter is the time of strong storms and severe frost. The former are brought by winds blowing from the inner part of the south (Job 9:9), south of which lies the desert, and therefore the land of Hadrah Zech 9:1 is called in the Talmud the “land of the south,” – from the south (Isa 21:1; Zech 9:14) or the southeast (Hos 13:15), the latter comes from the “north.”

Job 37:10. By the breath of God ice is formed, and the surface of the water becomes solid. Under the influence of cold winds (“from the breath of God”; cf. Exod 15:10) ice appears, and the surface of the water becomes dense (“becomes solid”), freezes hard.

Job 37:11. By the moisture He loads the thick clouds; He scatters His bright cloud, Job 37:12. and they swirl around by His guidance, that they may do whatever He commands them on the face of the whole earth. Job 37:13. He causes it to happen, whether for correction or for His land, or for mercy. A new description of clouds and rain, brought on perhaps by the approach of the thunderstorm. In verse 13, instead of the Synodal “or for His favor” it should read: “or for His land”: rain is sent by God to increase the fertility of the earth.

Job 37:14. Listen to this, Job; stand still and consider the wonderful works of God. Job 37:15. Do you know when God arranges them, and causes the light of His cloud to shine? Job 37:16. Do you understand the spreading out of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Job 37:17. Why is your clothing warm when the earth lies still under the south wind? Job 37:18. With Him, have you spread out the skies, strong as a cast metal mirror? Instead of contending with God, being hostile against Him, Job should draw from the wondrous incomprehensible works of God the appropriate conclusion about his sufferings. And indeed, if he cannot say how the clouds move in the air, in what way his clothing is warmed by the combined action of the sun and the south wind, how the heavens are arranged, similar in their brightness to mirrors made of shining bronze, then how can he dispute with God about the calamity that has befallen him?

Job 37:19. Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot present our case because of darkness. Elihu himself and other people can say nothing about them because of the limitation of their own reason. On the other hand, even if they could do so, what guarantee is there that what is said will reach the ear of the Lord, will be accepted by Him in consideration (cf. Job 9:33). And finally, will not an attempt to enter into discussion with God lead to destruction, and does not this consideration in turn bring the thought of submission: “but does a man wish to be annihilated?” (a literal reading of the second half of the verse).

Job 37:21. Now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has cleared them clean. The correct reading of this verse is thus: “and now one cannot gaze at His light when it shines brightly in the heavens after the wind has blown and cleared them.” If man cannot bear the light of the sun, will he not be blinded when trying to penetrate the mysteries of divine wisdom? This is one of the considerations in favor of the thought about the necessity of entrusting oneself to the hands of the Lord.

Job 37:22. Golden splendor comes from the north, and awesome majesty surrounds God. Instead of “fair weather,” a literal translation from the Hebrew should read: “gold comes from the north.” People know the source of gold; it is mined in the north (Herodotus, III, 116; Pliny, VI, 11, 33). But as for the wisdom of God, divine determinations regarding man, knowledge of which is more valuable than possessing gold (Job 28:12-16), they are inaccessible to mortals – “awesome majesty surrounds God.”

Job 37:23. As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, and in justice and great righteousness. He does not oppress. Although the determinations of the Lord are incomprehensible, they are absolutely just. Thus Job is forced to entrust his fate to God, humbly submit to His will.

Job 37:24. Therefore men fear Him; He shows favor to all who are wise of heart. And not only Job, but all people, even the wise, must bow before the inscrutable ways of God. “God does not regard any who are wise of heart” (the second half of the verse), their wisdom cannot turn aside His determinations.